3-D processing in the Poggendorff illusion

In the Poggendorff illusion two collinear oblique lines, separated by two vertical lines, appear to be misaligned. 3-D processing of the oblique but not the vertical lines is considered to cause this apparent misalignment. We investigated whether more explicitly triggering 2-D versus 3-D interpretations of the different parts of Poggendorff-like displays would influence the apparent misalignment. In Experiment 1, we found that compared to 2-D controls, 3-D interpretations of the vertical parts did not influence apparent misalignment, while for the oblique parts 3-D processing resulted in more apparent misalignment than 2-D controls. In Experiment 2, the amount of contour convergence of the oblique parts was manipulated resulting in the 3-D blocks, but not the 2-D line patterns, to be perceived as receding in depth. Now, apparent misalignment increased the more the 3-D blocks were perceived as receding in depth. We conclude that apparent misalignment in Poggendorff-like displays can be influenced by different interpretations of its separate parts, while keeping the local junctions between the different elements the same.     

Does it only depend on the point of view? Perspective-related differences in justice evaluations of negative incidents in personal relationships

A series of four studies investigated systematic differences between actor and recipient interpretations and justice evaluations of negative incidents in interpersonal relationships. Due to a refined methodology, each negative incident was assessed both by the respective recipient and actor, and each participant reported incidents from both perspectives. The studies provided clear evidence of systematic recipient-actor differences and showed that the quality of the relationship between the parties involved in the incidents can moderate the occurrence and shape of the differences. Significant gender differences were found showing that women respond more accusingly than men in the role of the recipient and more defensively than men in the role of the actor. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structural Personality Organization as Assessed With Theory Driven Profile Interpretation of the Dutch Short Form of the MMPI Predicts Dropout and Treatment Response in Brief Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Axis I Disorders

It is generally believed that people "normally" see male figures on Card III and females on Card VII, and that seeing females on III by males may be an indication of confused sexuality. Brown (1971) suggests that recently there has been a marked increase in the number of males who see females on III and that this indicates a cultural change toward a blurring of sex roles. Present findings are that male subjects through 60 years of age see substantial numbers of females on Card III. More males do see females on III in 1970 than earlier, but it seems to be the age of the subject more than the decade in which he lives that primarily determines response.     

Factors associated with traumatic symptoms and internalizing problems among adolescents who experienced a traumatic event

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify factors that are related to the traumatic symptoms and problem behavior among adolescents who experienced the New Years fire in 2001 in Volendam, The Netherlands. Three groups of factors were considered: pre-trauma (personality and coping), trauma-related (physical and emotional proximity to disaster), and post-trauma factors (received social support). Forty-five adolescents completed the questionnaire. Two years after the disaster, these adolescents experienced significant traumatic stress reaction (70% within the clinical range) and showed clinically significant levels of internalizing problems (37%). Pre-trauma, individual factors were identified as the most important predictors of distress, followed by received social support. The indicators of physical and emotional proximity to disaster explained little variance in distress.     

The end-state comfort effect facilitates joint action

Motor experts can accurately predict the future actions of others by observing their movements. This report describes three experiments that investigate such predictions in everyday object manipulations and test whether these predictions facilitate responses to the actions of others. Observing video excerpts showing an actor reaching for a vertically mounted dial, participants in Experiment 1 needed to predict how the actor would rotate it. Their predictions were specific to the direction and extent of the dial rotation and improved proportionate to the length of the video clip shown. Testing whether such predictions facilitate responses, in the subsequent experiments responders had to undo an actor's actions, back-rotating a dial (Exp 2) and a bar (Exp 3). The responders' actions were initiated faster when the actors' movements obeyed the so-called end-state comfort principle than when they did not. Our experiments show that humans exploit the end-state comfort effect to tweak their predictions of the future actions of others. The results moreover suggest that the precision of these predictions is mediated by perceptual learning rather than by motor simulation.     

Sport competition anxiety and sex role

Competitive trait anxiety scores, measured by the Sport Competition Anxiety Test, were obtained from subjects of both sexes. Subjects also were classified into one of five sex-role endorsement categories according to scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory. It was predicted that greater endorsement of a feminine sex role, regardless of sex of the subject, would be associated with high levels of competitive trait anxiety. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference for sex of subject, but significant differences for both sex-role endorsement and sex × endorsement interaction. Both differences were attributed to male subjects' responses. Generally, masculine males were less anxious than other subjects, while feminine males were more anxious. There were no significant differences among female groups.The author expresses thanks to Elizabeth Y. Poland and Robert E. Hill, Jr., for their numerous helpful comments during the preparation of this article.     

Visual–perceptual and cognitive differences between expert,intermediate, and novice snooker players

The performance of seven expert, seven intermediate, and 15 novice snooker players was compared on a range of general visual tests and sport-specific perceptual and cognitive tests in an attempt to determine the locus of the expert advantage. No significant expert-novice differences were apparent on standard optometric tests of acuity, ocular muscle balance, colour vision, and depth perception, nor on the relative frequency of unilateral and cros-lateral eye-hand dominances. Experts, however, were found to be superior in their ability to both recall and recognize rapidly-presented slides depicting normal game situations, but were no better than novices in recalling information from slides in which the balls were arranged randomly on the table. The expert group's superiority on the perceptual recall and recognition tasks was consistent with a deeper level of encoding for structured (meaningful) material. Experts were also shown, through the use of thinking-aloud and evaluation paradigms, to use a greater depth of forward planning in choosing appropriate shot options and to evaluate existing situations with greater accuracy, discriminability, and prospective planing than did novices. The cognitive advantage is shown to be a potential contributor but not a total explanation of the superior performance of the experts on the perceptual tasks. The findings of this study are consistent with existing works on expertise in board games and ‘open’ skill sports in indicating that the expert's advantage is not a general but a specific one, arising not from physical capacities but from acquired processing strategies.     

Beyond his story: from interpretation to impact of stories from different cultures

This paper deals with the history of psychoanalysis (Freud) and analytical psychology (Jung) in the light of recent developments and considers the release of new creativity in the field after its deconstruction. Cross-cultural contributions in the form of teaching stories are estimated to be of relevance, while the emphasis will be on what we, as analysts, can learn from these teachings, rather than interpreting them in the more traditional way in which such stories can be shown to fit analytical theory.
The most crucial debate in psychoanalysis of the recent era centres around stories and the deconstruction thereof. It is the debate between Lacan and Derrida on the interpretation of a crucial story (Poe's story, The Purloined Letter). The core of their views will be discussed in this paper in the light of the major differences between Freud and Jung. Whereas Freud's theoretical core-complex is closely related to Lacan's phallocentric Truth, it is Derrida who speaks of germination and dissemination as the way in which Truth manifests itself. Derrida's thought on text and words is very close to Jung's conceptions of the image and symbol, in which there is no monotheistic paradigm ruling theory     

Insular activity during passive viewing of aversive stimuli reflects individual differences in state negative affect

People differ with regard to how they perceive, experience, and express negative affect. While trait negative affect reflects a stable, sustained personality trait, state negative affect represents a stimulus limited and temporally acute emotion. So far, little is known about the neural systems mediating the relationship between negative affect and acute emotion processing. To address this issue we investigated in a healthy female sample how individual differences in state negative affect are reflected in changes in blood oxygen level-dependent responses during passive viewing of emotional stimuli. To assess autonomic arousal we simultaneously recorded changes in skin conductance level. At the psychophysiological level we found increased skin conductance level in response to aversive relative to neutral pictures. However, there was no association of state negative affect with skin conductance level. At the neural level we found that high state negative affect was associated with increased left insular activity during passive viewing of aversive stimuli. The insula has been implicated in interoceptive processes and in the integration of sensory, visceral, and affective information thus contributing to subjective emotional experience. Greater recruitment of the insula in response to aversive relative to neutral stimuli in subjects with high state negative affect may represent increased processing of salient aversive stimuli.